NCSS Online Teachers' Library

NCSS has selected a collection of classroom activities, teaching ideas, and articles from Social Education, Middle Level Learning, and Social Studies and the Young Learner. Browse the collection, or search by historical period and grade level using the search function below.
(Collections on other disciplines are under development.)

By Robert Cohen
Many have questioned whether the document on which our nation is based sanctioned slavery. But renowned abolitionist Frederick Douglass, who originally condemned the Constitution, came to view it in a much different light.

By James Oakes
Like Frederick Douglass, this historian had originally viewed the Constitution as pro-slavery. Yet a close look at Douglass’s writings revealed a Constitution that empowered the federal government to abolish slavery.

—Tony R. Sanchez and Randy K. Mills
Teachers can relate the excitement, paradox, and importance of American history to students by conveying the challenges of life in the past with stories. [John Adams, in court, defends British soldiers after the Boston Massacre. Abigail Adams, speaking to her neighbor, defends the right of James Prince--an African American--to attend the local school.]

--Lee Ann Potter
In the early days of this nation, Congress considered numerous acts as it established the laws of the land. Yet the first ever act of Congress concerned an oath to support the Constitution.

—Lee Ann Potter
A newly launched project highlights one hundred landmark documents—such as the United States Constitution, Thomas Edison’s electric lamp patent, and the canceled check for Alaska—that have influenced the course of U.S. history. Here’s how to integrate these documents into classroom instruction.

Pullout, "Four U.S. Symbol of Democracy," by the same authors, gives a brief history of -- and activities to learn about -- the Stars and Stripes, The Pledge of Allegiance, The Liberty Bell, and The Statue of Liberty.